Paint It Black: the Rise of Metallurgy in the Balkans
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Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: Paint It Black Radivojevic Rehren REVISION December 2014.docx 1 2 3 4 5 6 Paint It Black: the rise of metallurgy in the Balkans 7 8 9 10 11 12 Miljana Radivojević1 and Thilo Rehren2 13 1 14 Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, UK; 15 email: [email protected], phone: +44 207 679 4936; fax 0207 679 1043 16 2 17 UCL Qatar, Georgetown Building, PO Box 25256, Education City, Doha, UK; email: 18 [email protected] 19 20 21 22 Abstract 23 24 This paper integrates archaeological, material, microstructural and compositional data of c. 7000 years 25 old metallurgical production evidence with the aim to address the knowledge of the world’s earliest 26 metalworkers. The main focus is placed on copper minerals, ores, slags, slagged sherds and metal 27 droplets coming from four Vinča culture settlements in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina: Belovode, 28 29 Pločnik, Vinča and Gornja Tuzla, all dated between c. 5400 – 4400 BC. Chemical study of copper 30 minerals throughout all sites points at striking uniformity in selecting black and green minerals from the 31 early days of the settlements’ occupation, some of which predate the metal smelting events. 32 33 Microstructural examination of metal production debris showed convincing technological similarity 34 throughout c. six centuries of copper making in the studied sites, as well as a consistent choice of black 35 and green ores for metal extraction. We argue that black and green ores were intentionally selected as 36 ingredients for the metal smelting ‘recipe’ in the early stages of Balkan metallurgy based on the 37 38 knowledge related to their characteristic visual aspects. This finding demonstrates how important the 39 adequate combination of colours was for the early copper metalworkers and suggests a unique 40 technological trajectory for the evolution of metallurgy in this part of the world. It also illustrates the 41 42 capacity that micro-research carries in addressing the how and why of the emergence of metallurgy, and 43 outlines a methodology for future studies of early metallurgies worldwide. 44 45 46 47 Keywords: Vinča culture; Balkans; metallurgy; copper slag; technology; colour 48 49 50 51 1. Introduction 52 53 54 Studies of prehistoric metallurgy have mostly concentrated on the impact metal artefacts had on 55 consumer societies. Extensive scholarship has been devoted to the role of metallurgy in the rise of social 56 complexity, history of warfare, or building broad chronologies for later prehistory worldwide. However, 57 58 studying ancient metallurgy goes beyond the typological, stylistic and functional analysis of objects or 59 their distribution, as these represent only some of the building blocks for understanding the knowledge of 60 1 61 62 63 64 65 1 2 3 4 metal production. Such knowledge is inherently related to the perception of immanent properties of both 5 metal artefacts and components required to make them. 6 7 The unchanging properties of matter, and the physical laws and principles by which they operate are 8 9 immanent in the material universe. The recognition of these properties, such as a mineral colour, smell or 10 taste, and the physical laws by which they can be manipulated to a particular purpose are usually 11 constrained by social, technological and environmental circumstances within a given time (Simpson 12 1963). Cyril Stanley Smith (1981) was among the first to recognise that the origins of technological 13 14 breakthroughs (such as metallurgy) was motivated more by appreciation for colour, acoustic properties, 15 scent, or reflectance of materials than by the pursuit for better tools or weapons. As he noted, the ‘desire 16 to beautify the utilitarian has always stretched the ingenuity of the mechanics’ (Smith 1981, p. 330). 17 18 The sensory experience of materials has therefore been accordingly acknowledged in the literature and 19 emerged as the key area of interest in the studies of material culture. The term materiality has been most 20 21 commonly used in scholarship to encompass these immediately perceptive aspects of an object together 22 with the social connotation of its use (cf. Jones 2004, p. 330). Perhaps the most popular definition of 23 materiality is put forward by Boivin (2008, p. 26), who considers materiality as the physicality of the 24 25 material world, since it has dimensions, it resists and constraints, and it offers possibilities for the 26 (human) organism as outlined by a set of physical properties. Nevertheless, the use of this term has been 27 burdened with its own intellectual luggage, carried over from the times when it served to show that 28 material culture has had a profound impact on the social world (Gosden 2005, p. 185). Furthermore, for 29 30 scholars coming from the worlds of both archaeology and materials science, like us, the term materiality, 31 as defined by its use, lacks the depth for the resolution of evidence we are looking at. 32 33 While we acknowledge that physical properties of a finished object, together with its dimensions of use, 34 and material advantages and limitations constitute an object’s materiality, we also believe that the route to 35 its final shape, or the production process, provides crucial complementary information to this concept. It 36 37 is the properties of raw materials, their acquisition and preparation, as well as manufacturing techniques 38 that hold information inherent to the appearance and value of the produced object (cf. Smith 1981). We 39 hold that the study of immanent properties of all material components involved in the object making 40 within a given context can contribute to an insightful account of the knowledge applied in its production, 41 42 and is as important as the final form an object takes. We thus argue that the concept of materiality is short 43 of this ‘organic’ dimension, which makes it unsuitable for the scope of our study presented here. What we 44 aim to demonstrate is that only an understanding of immanent properties of all production components 45 46 interacting within specific historical circumstances can shed light on the how and why of an object’s 47 making in an archaeological inquiry. 48 49 Archaeometric studies have long identified the importance of understanding the interaction of physical 50 properties of materials and social practices involved in their manufacture (e.g. Sillar and Tite 2000; Tite et 51 al. 2001; Jones 2004; Martinón-Torres et al. 2007; Martinón-Torres and Rehren 2009; Killick and Fenn 52 53 2012). Sillar and Tite (2000) address this interaction with the idea of ‘embedded technologies’, which 54 stands for the wider contextualisation of techniques within cultural and environmental surroundings. A 55 good ethnographic example is provided in the study of Shona iron smelting furnaces, which demonstrated 56 that the surface appearance of their furnaces is not as powerful as the material transformations taking 57 58 place inside them (Schmidt 2009, p. 279). A powerful set of recorded rituals surrounding the smelting 59 60 2 61 62 63 64 65 1 2 3 4 activity unveiled the supremacy of the interior material transformation, and pointed at the analytical 5 potency of all evidence coming out of an activity such as metal making. 6 7 Many ethnographers made the connection between distinctive colours, brilliant surfaces and ritual power 8 9 and potency (Chapman 2007a). Art, technology and aesthetics have already been addressed within a 10 technical system called ‘the technology of enchantment’ (Gell 1992). Enchantment is acknowledged as 11 associated with technology, as its various dimensions have the power to ‘enchant’ during ceremonial or 12 commercial gift exchange, or rituals. The power of artistic objects is particularly distinctive when it 13 14 comes to their outer appearance, such as colour, or shine. An excellent example of integration of 15 aesthetics and archaeometric techniques is provided by Hosler (1994), who explored the significance of 16 aesthetics and sound in metal use in historic west Mexico and discussed how those shaped the 17 18 Mesoamerican worldview. 19 Post-medieval crucible production is another example that pointed out the importance of sensory aspects 20 21 during the production steps, when choosing a suitable type of clay for crucible making (Martinón-Torres 22 and Rehren 2009). Archaeometric analysis revealed that the reputable endurance of Hessian and Bavarian 23 crucibles was due to particular properties of naturally occurring clays as well as their manipulation during 24 25 the firing process. Martinón-Torres and Rehren (2009, p. 69) argue that the potters must have been aware 26 of the qualities of this particular clay, such as its colour, texture, plasticity, taste or smell, and opted for 27 the right combination of these aspects when choosing the raw material for their crucibles. It was therefore 28 the complete sensorial aspect of the raw material, in addition to its colour, that shaped potter’s preference 29 30 for a particular type of clay. 31 Both studies, and the latter in particular, indicated novel research avenues for the application of material 32 33 science in addressing the reasoning behind an object making. Significantly, what emerged to be an 34 important part for understanding the process of object making, besides manufacturing steps, colour and 35 mechanical properties of the produced artefacts is the physics of the production process and the 36 37 constraints imposed by it (cf. Vincenti 2000; Roux 2010; Charlton et al. 2010). Coming back to the 38 importance of understanding immanent properties of materials, we need to acknowledge the historical 39 manifestations of particular combinations of these immanent processes, or configurations.